


a certain capacity

by Losha



Category: Bleach, Pet Shop of Horrors
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I've never read xxxHOLiC and that fact may be haunting me, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Winter War (Bleach), Pre-Fullbringer Arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27723493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Losha/pseuds/Losha
Summary: Ichigo gets a job at a pet shop after losing his powers. It’s nice to look after the animals and work gives him a reason other than school to get out of the house now that his friends are busy fighting hollows without him. He doesn’t say that the job is in another city’s Chinatown. And he definitely doesn’t say just how dodgy it is, that the animals aren’t normal, and that his new boss is probably the weirdest of them all. But D didn’t run when Ichigo all but threw himself at him, and he let Ichigo stay, so Ichigo’s not complaining. Much.
Relationships: Count D (Pet Shop of Horrors) & Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 15
Kudos: 78





	1. Dwell

***

It’s spring, the beginning of April and technically school ended a few days ago. Ichigo stands as one among many of his classmates on the train platform, waiting for the last stragglers before they all head to Tokyo.

At the beginning of last term, the idea had been put forward to have a class trip over the break, before their final year of school. It was met with enough enthusiasm that Horikita, the class president, actually pushed it through.

It wasn’t mandatory - Ichigo wasn’t sure until the very end if he even wanted to go, but Ishida had mentioned in a rare moment of conversation between them that it would be nice to tour Tokyo University and Ichigo had agreed. A part of him had even hoped that the trip to Tokyo would bridge some of the divide building up between him and his friends.

Ichigo lost his spiritual powers - Zangetsu and his hollow too - in January, just before the final term began. Over the course of that term, his friends continued fighting hollows, continued getting stronger, continued living a life that he was once a part of but could no longer see, and they did it firmly without him. He might have dealt with that loss eventually if the awkwardness was just on his side, but his friends didn’t know how to handle his loss of powers any better than he did and they began pulling away.

He knows intellectually that their refusal to talk about hollows (and Seireitei. and the war. and any of their shinigami friends. and basically anything at all that wasn’t _perfectly normal_.) was probably to protect him or out of consideration for his feelings, but Ichigo _chafes_ at the idea of being handled so delicately. Months ago he fought and defeated Aizen - now he can’t even see ghosts, something he’s been able to do since he was a toddler. His lack of powers makes them hesitant to include him in anything hollow-related, even the conversations about them, which leaves very little substance to their time together given that fighting hollows and raiding Seireitei was the basis for most of their friendships. That in turn never fails to irritate Ichigo, which he knows is kind of unfair, which leads to him avoiding them to keep from being an ass, which then makes things awkward when they _are_ together, and which then makes them go out of _their_ way to avoid being alone with _him_. It’s amazing he still has any fucking friends at this point. They’re all stupid idiots, himself included, and it’s shit and not something a train ride and a school trip can solve, but... Well, it’ll never get any better if he doesn’t try.

The truth is, Ichigo isn’t taking the loss of his shinigami powers well. He knows this. He knows that he probably needs something more than what he’s got going on right now for a support system, which is currently just Karin and Yuzu and, horror of horrors, his old man. But his friends are being dumb. And his other friends - Rukia, Renji, Urahara, Shinji and the other Visored - none of them are anywhere to be found. He went by the Urahara Shouten one afternoon when he’d felt particularly shitty and Ururu had almost cried when she told him that Urahara wasn’t there. Urahara never made an attempt to reach back out to him afterwards. Ichigo took that for what it probably was and, after the seventh failed attempt, didn’t try again.

There’s a howling emptiness in his chest where two spirits once lived. There’s a dull ache through his limbs where reishi once flowed. There’s a film over the world around him. Where once there was life after death, now there is only pure, simple humanity. Ichigo _hates_ it. He chose it, yes; he’d known going in what he’d be sacrificing, but knowing is not the same as experiencing and Ichigo is still dragging himself through life one day at a time all these months later. He doesn’t know how he’ll keep this up, but he knows he has to. Knows he’ll keep gritting his teeth and wading through this walking misery, trying every damn day not to resent his friends for what they still have, what they still can do, what they still can see, because what other choice does he have? What will bitterness accomplish? What will resenting the shinigami for abandoning him to his humanity get him? None of them can give him back what he lost. 

He chose this with eyes wide open - but Ichigo won’t lie and say he doesn’t realize that he didn’t have any other options at the time.

At least they won, he reminds himself what seems like every day. At least his sacrifice - ( _His merged spirit, crying as they told him, “What I wanted to protect was_ you, _Ichigo_.”) - meant something. It’s a small comfort, but Ichigo holds tight to it. It’s all he has left.

He’s hoping to make some inroads with his friends on this trip, bond over something _normal_ since they all at least have aspirations for college in common, but while Ichigo has done his part with sacrifices and is living the typical high school student life now, his friends are still giving. That’s never been made more apparent than when Inoue runs up to Ichigo and Chad where they’ve been standing in an awkward silence for the past ten minutes near one of the metro station’s posts, Ishida just off to the side pretending that he isn’t with them, even though he looks over every time Ichigo so much as shifts.

Ichigo lifts a hand in greeting, but Inoue has eyes only for Chad, probably because his height meant he was the first one she saw.

“Sado-kun! I saw a-! Ah!”

Ichigo catches her before she faceplants into the ground. “You okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine! Thank you, Kurosaki-kun,” Inoue laughs sheepishly, stepping back.

“We’ve still got some time before the train comes,” he says. “You didn’t have to run.”

Inoue winces and flashes a nervous look at Chad, then Ishida who comes closer. “Um… The train..! Right! That’s why I was running. Ah ha ha...”

“Oh,” he says, and falls silent as the understanding shifts to disappointment. There’s a hollow. Of course there is. He glances at the time displayed on the wall. “Are you going to be able to make it back before the train comes?”

“Of course!” Inoue beams, zero hesitation.

Ichigo eyes her dubiously. “It’s coming in five minutes.”

Inoue squeaks and looks at Chad and Ishida in a silent, wide-eyed plea.

Ishida looks back at her mutinously. “Let the shinigami handle it. We’ll miss the train if we go now.”

“But… Kurumadani-san hasn’t been around as much. And there was a spirit...” 

Ishida clenches his jaw. “... Fine. Where is this hollow?” he asks, already shaking out his Quincy chain. He throws a glance Ichigo’s way as he passes him, barely noticeable through his hair if Ichigo wasn’t looking. “If we’re fast maybe we can catch up at the next station,” he mutters as he stalks off.

“Right! Kurosaki-kun, we’ll do that!” Inoue assures him, half-bowing apologetically before she turns to run after Ishida, who is cutting a path through the station like he half intends to shoot the hollow down and make it back in time for _this_ train.

“Bye,” Ichigo manages. He shoves his hands in his hoodie’s pockets and looks over at Chad, watching Ichigo quietly. “They’ll probably need some help,” he says.

Chad nods, but he doesn’t leave just yet. Instead, he reaches out and clasps Ichigo’s shoulder, thumb brushing gently along Ichigo’s clavicle. Ichigo relaxes into the touch and reaches a hand up to pat Chad’s forearm. “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you guys later?”

“We’ll try to be quick,” Chad promises him. He squeezes Ichigo’s shoulder lightly before hurrying off after Ishida and Inoue.

Ichigo turns his back on the exit and pulls his other hand out of his pocket, consciously unclenching the fist. He wants so badly to follow them that it physically hurts. He's still fighting with himself over whether it’s stupid to consider staying behind to wait for them - Ishida said they’d aim for the next station on, so what the hell does he think staying _here_ would do? - when the train pulls into the station.

Ichigo boards with the rest of his classmates and looks across the platform for familiar faces until the doors close and they pull away.

Too late now.

He straightens up at the next stop, looks out at the waiting crowd for a flash of Inoue’s bright hair, Chad’s incredible height, Ishida’s sharp manner of dress. Looks for them at the station after that, and the next. After that, he and his class have to switch trains to get on the track that’ll take them to Tokyo, and though he scans the station from top to bottom while following after Horikita, it’s fairly clear his friends weren’t able to catch up, so he just quits looking. Maybe they’ll manage to catch up at Tokyo University.

Ichigo is given a wide berth on the new train. No one wants to stand near him the way he’s scowling, irritated at the hollow for its shitty timing, irritated at his friends for going to fight it, irritated at the shinigami stationed in Karakura for being so slow that a bunch of adolescent humans always have to handle the hollows in his stead. He’s even irritated at himself for _being_ irritated when he knows he wouldn’t have done any different if their place. Tatsuki, Mizuiro, and Keigo are the only ones from his class who might’ve still approached him despite his current crap attitude and expression, but none of them elected to come on this trip, either having already chosen their future universities and having better things to do during their break or in Keigo’s case on vacation with his sister and parents. Ichigo ends up standing near the back of the train car with a small ring of open space around him, feeling worse than useless and - damn it - lonely.

He regrets coming. Even if he wanted to see Tokyo University, the shine has worn off with his friends’ departure and his failure at reconnecting with them. He toys with the idea of getting off at the next stop, calling this trip a bust, but... Damn it. Goat Face specifically asked him this morning to take a lot of photos to show Kaa-san the next time they visit her grave. He doesn’t care about disappointing his dad, but Ichigo never wants to disappoint his mom.

He stays.

***

By the day’s end, he will be grateful for that excuse.

Because being on the trip is how Ichigo meets _him_.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving, here's none of the fic I've been working on updating all year. :') I really am working on the next 'death does not part us' but I needed a break. Have a nostalgia crossover instead? Please note, this will not be D/Ichigo. If it's anything, it's D/Leon, but I'm not sure if Leon is going to appear or just be referenced, so I won't include that tag just yet. I'm a glacially slow updater, but the next chapter should be up within the week. Thank you for reading!


	2. Desire

It’s at a crosswalk that Ichigo notices him.

Ichigo is standing a few feet back from some of his classmates, the ones who like him lingered late at Todai rather than breaking off immediately to do some sightseeing before the return home, feeling a bit like a guard dog as he peers around. He’s not especially friendly with anyone in this group - Sakurazawa might be one of Inoue’s friends, but he’s not sure how close they are - and they didn’t protest when he joined them, but there’s definitely a focused effort to ignore his existence going on that makes it feel more like he’s a bodyguard escorting them to the metro rather than a classmate going in the same direction. It’s enough to make him consider ducking into a nearby shop to let them move far enough ahead, but… Well, there’s only a block or so to go before they reach the nearest station and maybe it doesn’t hurt to have someone looking out for the three girls in a big city like Tokyo. It seems pretty safe this time of day, but anything could happen.

As he’s thinking this, the light changes and the sizable crowd surges forward. Ichigo trails along behind his classmates, keeping an eye out for pickpockets when his attention snags on a passing figure. And stays there. 

The man is tall and beautiful, striking in the otherworldly way that a lot of shinigami are, dressed in a long cheongsam that seems out of place in the present crowd. He carries himself like he’s dangerous, a predator walking carelessly among lesser creatures. Ichigo is reminded fiercely of Yumichika, but this man is prettier even than the fifth seat officer of the 11th and his placid expression could put Byakuya to shame. No one else seems to pay the man - shinigami? He hates that he can’t _tell._ \- any mind, but those in his path scatter and reform in his wake like a river of startled butterflies so he’s definitely corporeal.

Ichigo is ensnared. He stops dead in the middle of the crowded crosswalk, half turning to see more and heedless of the inconvenience he’s causing others. He can’t bring himself to care, even as a few people mutter complaints and some punk jostles his shoulder. He may be as blind to the spiritual world as any normal human these days, but he walked that path for so long - has been helplessly looking for anything like what he once knew to no avail - that the sight of this man is a beacon in the darkness. His blood sings. This man is not human. Ichigo doesn’t know what he is - besides dangerous - but _oh_ , he _**wants**_ to.

Without any hesitation or caution, Ichigo turns fully away from his classmates and hurries after the maybe shinigami.

Of course, the problem with shadowing someone you’ve never seen before in a city that isn’t your own is that you can’t even begin to guess where they’re going and you’re constantly terrified of losing sight of them. It makes subtlety difficult, not that that has ever been Ichigo’s strong suit in the first place.

Ichigo tries to be discreet, but he’s no Yoruichi; he’s pretty sure the man knows by now that he has a tail. Finally breaking through the crowd of pedestrians, scowling, Ichigo just catches sight of black and gold silk passing through the door of a confectionery shop.

“Damn it,” he mutters, pulling up short. He’s… definitely been made. He can’t be _sure_ of course, but a whisper of instinct warns him that the Chinese man had time to vanish into that store completely before he broke through the crowd. Sure, maybe he lingered outside of it to stare at the display, but Ichigo’s been following this guy for almost an hour now. The man has yet to be anything but purposeful in his movements. If he lingered, it’s because he wanted Ichigo to see him go in there.

Ichigo scowls as he loiters undecided outside the shop, just out of sight of the windows. Should he wait for the man to come out and continue following him? No, probably not. Putting aside that the man knows he’s here and could lead Ichigo into a trap if he doesn’t humor this offer to come join him, Ichigo risks losing the guy every time they pass through a crowd. If he loses the man’s tolerance for being followed, this chase isn’t going to last much longer. Not to mention that if he keeps stalking the guy like this, he’s going to get the cops called on him sooner or later. Ichigo knows the other is a man, but he’s a damn pretty, delicate looking thing and most people who look at Ichigo land on ‘thug’ for their first through third impressions. The longer this drags on, the more likely it is that he gets reported by a concerned bystander. Ichigo really doesn’t have a leg to stand on if that happens.

On the other hand, if he does go in the shop, what exactly is his plan? Ichigo shifts and frowns at the plates of delicate pastries in the shop’s window display. This decision would be a lot easier to make if he actually knew what he wanted to say, but he’s still drawing a blank there. Usually when he encounters non-humans, they come to him or he goes to them, Zangetsu at the ready. Does he have a single person in his life he didn’t get to know through fighting, on one end or another? He can’t think of anyone, aside from his sisters and his dad, which… Ugh.

“Whatever,” he huffs, putting the thought aside for now. He’s tired of thinking about this. He’ll just wing it for now. If he goes in and the guy doesn’t acknowledge Ichigo, then he’ll take his cues from that and just buy something for the twins while he thinks of how to approach the guy. Maybe try to strike up conversation while paying.

_Oh, you’re buying that? It’s a good choice. You must have really good instincts, between this and noticing me following you. By the way, are you a shinigami? Because I’ve lost my ability to see ghosts and hollows but even I can tell you’re definitely not a human._

Yeah, no, he'd honestly rather get stabbed. That’s shinigami levels of stupid. Even Ichigo can do better than that. Right?

Honestly, he kind of hopes the man is just waiting for him to step inside so he can punch him in the face outside the view of the public. Ichigo would know exactly how to handle _that_ situation at least. Much less embarrassing all around.

He pushes off the wall and storms into the shop. 

To his immediate disappointment, there is no punching. The Chinese man doesn’t even look at him, too busy chatting happily with the cashier as they box up his order. Ichigo drifts closer to eavesdrop. The man’s voice is in a lower register than he thought it would be from his appearance, but it’s very smooth and some part of Ichigo relaxes to hear it. How _should_ he do this? he wonders, staring at the man from the corner of his eye as he pretends to look at a nearby display. 

“Hello, sir! Welcome to our store.”

Ichigo startles and turns to the second store attendant who just emerged from the back, a small stack of boxes in her hand. “Thanks,” he mutters, eyes darting between the man he’s been following and the attendant. When the man fails to so much as glance over, Ichigo deflates a little and turns his full attention to the woman.

“Can I get something for you?” she asks, setting the boxes in her hand down by the register closest to the man and then drifting back over to Ichigo’s side.

“Um, yeah. Can I get two strawberry shortcakes?” he orders quickly, without much thought. He’s seen his sisters eat those before, so it seems like a fairly safe option.

“Certainly. Anything else?”

Ichigo pauses. Wait, shit, he did not think that though at all. Ichigo is not about to introduce himself and attempt to bond over anything strawberry related. He _refuses_. Why did he say strawberry shortcake and not a damn roll cake or mont blanc?

Without any clue what the man ordered, Ichigo points towards the register. “One of those as well.”

The attendant’s pleasant smile freezes abruptly. “Ah?”

“One of what he got,” Ichigo repeats.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she apologizes with a fixed smile, “but I’m not sure that we have enough left for a second order.”

That -

That really implies terrible things about what is happening at the register behind Ichigo, doesn’t it?

Ichigo turns and boggles a little. What were two neat little boxes of pastry when Ichigo stepped in has since grown to - Ichigo counts - over ten boxes of varying sizes, including the ones that he recognizes as being those carried in by the attendant who is currently assisting him. The attendant at the register is even now closing the lid on another box of assorted tarts, while the Chinese man clasps his hands under his chin and coos.

“Can I interest you in something else?” the attendant offers him.

“A tart,” he says, still staring. “ _A_ tart. One. If there are even any left.”

“I will check,” she says, with a little more mirth now.

“No berries though,” Ichigo tacks on, finally looking back at her.

“Certainly.”

When she leaves his side, Ichigo turns back to the register and can feel his scowl growing. Forget the contrived approach; Ichigo only has one thing to say to this guy currently. “Are you planning to buy out the whole damn store?” he demands as he steps closer.

The man has a single, long nailed finger pressed to his mouth as he surveys his pile of confections, as if he’s honestly _considering more_.

For all of ten seconds, Ichigo considers telling him that he’s going to get fat before some latent survival instinct rears its head.

“Well,” the man says in that strangely calming voice, “I shouldn’t like to run out.”

Then he turns and looks at Ichigo, a small, sly smile just barely tugging at his lips. His one visible eye is as beautiful as the rest of him, vibrant purple and... hiding exactly the kind of contempt that Ichigo’s come to expect from shinigami when they first meet him, the human mutt with shinigami and hollow powers.

_Finally,_ something inside of him seems to sigh.

_Finally,_ Ichigo himself thinks, distantly aware that he’s just standing there staring now.

_Finally, I found you._

He’s still not sure who or _what_ he’s found, but he’s never in his life been so glad to be looked down upon. He was right before. This guy is definitely not human.

The man makes a faint noise as he stares back at Ichigo, expressing shifting to something more genuine and puzzled. He opens his mouth, but is cut off as the attendant at the register glances between them and asks, “Are your orders together, sirs?”

Ichigo chokes at the very idea, but the man next to him lights up with an unholy glee that Ichigo, as an older brother and someone who shared a room with Rukia for too damn long, knows he needs to head off immediately. “No!” he barks out, loud enough that the attendant flinches. “No,” he repeats more calmly, “absolutely not.”

“No?” the man pouts. “But I thought you owed me.”

...What?

“What?”

“For earlier,” he prompts Ichigo, looking at him from under his eyelashes. The man is smiling, but the lines of it look distinctly dangerous.

Well, whatever. He’s seen worse. Ichigo crosses his arms and scowls back. “That isn’t equal to this. _This_ is a small fortune. I’m a high-schooler. I don’t have that kind of money and I still need to be able to get home later.”

The man blinks at Ichigo. “If you say so,” he demurs, turning back to the register.

Ichigo bristles. Did he really just get called a cheapskate by a man who was trying to con him into buying his mountain of pastries? The nerve of this guy-! 

As the attendant begins to ring up each box, the second attendant returns with Ichigo’s own order and beckons him to her register. Ichigo gets halfway there before he stops, scowls harder, and stomps back to the man. “I’ll buy you _one_!” he snaps without looking at the man, grabbing the first thing he sees that hasn’t been rung up yet, and stomps back to his wide-eyed attendant. “This too,” he mutters, putting it down with more care than he’d grabbed it.

“Mm-hmm,” she says, lips pressed tight to contain what he is grumpily aware is a smile.

He ignores it, just like he ignores the way the Chinese man is staring at him from the other register, and the way his face is steadily pinkening with embarrassment. He cannot believe he is paying for anything for this guy. The man’s a grown adult! Ichigo is a teenager! Who should be paying for who here?! Ichigo glares sullenly at the counter.

His wallet is painfully lighter when he steps out of the store, waiting for the other man to finish paying. He surveys its contents with a frown. He should have just enough to make it back home, he decides. He’d planned to grab dinner out with his friends, but they’ve yet to meet up and he kind of doubts it’s going to happen at this point if they haven’t texted yet. He’ll just eat at home.

Ichigo looks over as the man steps out of the shop.

“You didn’t really have to buy me anything,” the man demurs. The way he’s eyeing the bag in Ichigo’s hand hungrily, as if he doesn’t hold five more just like it himself, says otherwise.

“I did.” He did stalk the man around the city for almost an hour. He probably owes the guy more than one box of pastries, to be honest.

“Hmm.” The man shifts all of his bags to one arm and gestures with the other. “Would you like to actually join me this time? Or would you prefer to continue following at a distance?” Obviously there’s no question of if Ichigo will leave the man alone now that he’s been caught. 

“I’ll join you,” Ichigo says. “How far is it, where we’re going?”

“Several blocks further, in Neo Chinatown.”

Ichigo nods as if that means something to him, then steps closer and holds out his hand.

“...Yes?” the man asks blankly.

Ichigo stares to the side, furiously willing his embarrassment down. “I’ll help you carry the bags,” he mutters.

“Oh.” The man looks pleased as he hands the bags over - _all_ of them, the bastard.

He probably deserves that though, so Ichigo takes the bags without complaint, absently noting that the man gave no indication that they were as heavy as they are when he’d held them all on one arm. Clearly he’s stronger than his slight frame would imply.

The man watches Ichigo shift the bags around until the weight is fairly settled and then, when Ichigo nods to indicate he’s ready to go, he smiles at him. “This way.”

That smile is much prettier when he doesn’t look like he’s considering how he wants to eviscerate him, Ichigo thinks as he falls into step beside the man.

But somehow, it’s not quite as honest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D really be out here conning high school kids into paying for his sweets, huh? D, please, take pity on Ichigo. He isn't like your usual targets. He doesn't have a job (yet).
> 
> Ichigo, missing a chunk of soul and sans powers, left to his own devices for Too Long: i can stalk dangerous non-human men, as a treat  
> Urahara: i don't know what i expected
> 
> Ichigo: you can't fool me, i'm an older brother  
> D: k  
> Ichigo: i said you can't fool me  
> D: alright  
> Ichigo:  
> Ichigo: ok fine  
> Ichigo: i will buy you one box of tarts  
> D:  
> Ichigo: i will also carry your bags  
> D:  
> Ichigo: it occurs to me that being an older brother is really working against me here.  
> D: can't relate
> 
> Slowly, we are moving along! Please bear with the shorter chapters. I'm trying not to scare off my muse with too much pressure. Thank you everyone for reading this odd little crossover and for commenting!!! You are much appreciated. :)  
> A note: PSoH:Tokyo has the petshop in a Neo Chinatown building in Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, rather than Ikebukuro which I think in reality does have a Chinatown. Not really sure why... but I'll stick to that, I guess, unless anyone knows if that was just another example of the terrible Tokyopop translations going wrong. Relatedly, what tends to be the fandom consensus on how to spell Rau Wu Fei's name? It is Shin PSoH, so he'll probably show up at some point.  
> 


End file.
